"On Tuesday morning, just before 11 am, a bomb threat on board a flight was reported," said a spokesperson for Charleroi Airport outside Brussels.
Air traffic at the airport was stopped, and nearly two hours after the alarm, the evacuation of passengers began. A security perimeter of 500 meters was set up around the plane from Ryanair.
The plane was searched and traffic resumed in the afternoon.
Interpol has informed Belgian prosecutors that the threat was and a person has been arrested, according to AFP. Suspicions against a person on board the plane have been dismissed.
Passengers witnessed a frightening situation when the plane was to be evacuated and searched.
We saw that the plane was surrounded by police and special forces. Special forces went into the plane. It was total panic, says a person to Belgian RTL.
Then we said to ourselves that it's going to explode, there were so many things going through our heads.
Charleroi, south of Brussels, is an important European hub for low-cost airline Ryanair.
Corrected: In an earlier version of the text, there was an incorrect statement about the route.
